A crypto entrepreneur is facing serious legal heat after investors claim he pocketed millions in profits and vanished without a trace.
The founder behind the Hashling NFT project and an associated Bitcoin mining venture is being sued by former business partners, who allege he defrauded them out of millions in returns and equity.
According to a court filing dated May 14 in Illinois, Jonathan Mills — the central figure behind the projects — is accused of secretly funneling over $3 million from the Bitcoin mining initiative and NFT earnings into a holding company, Satoshi Labs LLC (formerly Proof of Work Labs), which he controls as CEO.
Investors claim Mills promised equity returns and profits, but delivered none — instead allegedly rewriting a shareholder agreement to tighten his grip on the company. The rewritten deal, they say, was full of “errors” crafted to give the illusion that the holding company controlled all project assets. Under this agreement, Mills gave himself a 67% equity and voting stake, while investors who contributed up to $20,000 were left with just 2% each.
Even worse, the plaintiffs claim they collectively raised $1.46 million from NFT drops on the Solana and Bitcoin blockchains, yet received zero return on their investment. Mills allegedly stopped responding to them shortly after the fundraising — effectively ghosting the team.
A Questionable Start
Interestingly, Mills didn’t even have prior experience in NFTs when the Hashling project was born. It began as a collaboration between him and plaintiff Dustin Steerman, who had worked with Mills on previous ventures. Despite Mills admitting he had no money or background in NFTs, the project moved forward — driven by optimism, early enthusiasm, and a shared vision.
“Mills had a willingness to help push the project forward… even though that wasn’t the final idea, it emboldened it,” said Clinton Ind, the investors’ attorney.
To build momentum, the group recruited a wider team to handle everything from artwork and marketing to attending major NFT events like NFT.NYC. Mills even reportedly got his girlfriend to invest in the project.
Now, with the dream unraveling, the plaintiffs are not only suing Mills for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, but they’re also asking the court to impose a constructive trust on the project’s assets — seeking full restitution and legal accountability.
As of now, Mills has not responded publicly to the lawsuit.